Buffalo Bills cornerback Vontae Davis announced to the team that he was retiring at halftime in their loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.
The former Pro Bowler had signed a one-year deal with the Bills worth $5 million in the off-season. Davis played poorly in the preseason and was not active for the Bills first regular season game in Baltimore.
Lorenzo Alexander says he was told at start of second half that Vontae Davis quit and retired.
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 16, 2018
Buffalo Bills Vontae Davis Retires At Halftime
While Davis was active for week two, he told the Bills that he was pulling himself from the game and was done. The move earned the ire of his now-former teammates, including defensive captain Lorenzo Alexander.
Lorenzo Alexander said he was told Vontae Davis pulled himself out and retired at halftime. Said he hasn’t seen anything like it going back to Pop Warner. “Completely disrespectful.”
— Matthew Fairburn (@MatthewFairburn) September 16, 2018
Head coach Sean McDermott declined to go into detail on what happened but echoed Alexander.
“He pulled himself out of the game,” McDermott said. “He told us he was done.”
Losing Davis demonstrates what could be a problem with locker room culture. A similar incident occurred last summer when they signed wide receiver Anquan Boldin to a one-year deal. Boldin played in one preseason game before deciding to retire, putting the Bills in a poor position after trading star receiver Sammy Watkins.
Davis was an excellent cornerback earlier in his career and made two Pro Bowl appearances as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. He has recorded 22 interceptions in his 10 NFL seasons. Davis battled injuries in 2017 but looked to make a fresh start in Buffalo.
The Bills will have trouble with cornerback depth as they had lost Phillip Gaines and Taron Johnson to injury so far. Chalk this up as another poor roster move by the Bills, who have seen two of their premium free agent signees gone before mid-season.
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